Studies in Ariadne
by redbeanmochi
Summary: AU where Arthur and Ariadne are students at NYU. Ariadne falls asleep and Arthur is the one who carries her back to her dorm.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello again! I recently had a dream (corny, I know) where Arthur and Ariadne were college students at NYU, and lo and behold, this fic came into existence. I do NOT own anything from Inception (if I did, I'd be rich), but I hope you enjoy :)

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><p>"Please come with us?" Sandra begged Arthur.<p>

"I can't, I have an exam tomorrow," Arthur explained coolly.

"If you come, you can watch Maddy and I make out."

"I have no interest in watching you suck your girlfriend's face off."

"That usually works on most guys…"

"Can I go study now?" Arthur asked, glaring at his friend.

"Fine… Have fun being a nerd," Sandra sighed in defeat, stepping away from the door.

Arthur arrived at the library to find it, unsurprisingly, full. The library was buzzing with students frantically trying to cram the information they clearly had not learned in class before the exam. He scoffed as he made his way to the back of the library where there were still a few seats open. Arthur took a seat beside a petite brunette who seemed too engrossed in her studies to even acknowledge Arthur's presence.

He nearly laughed when he saw what she was studying. _Architecture._ Of course, he knew he shouldn't have been making fun of her; he always found the architecture of New York to be quite interesting.

Hours later, the noise in the library began to die down as students began leaving, deciding they had given up and that they were going to "wing" the exam. A few hours passed and Arthur and the girl next to him were the only ones left. Unfortunately, the libraries at NYU were not running 24 hours and the librarian had soon found them and reminded them the library was closing.

Arthur packed his things but noticed the brunette girl had not moved. He walked over to tap her on the shoulder when her head suddenly fell from its resting place in her hands and plopped onto her textbook. He shook her to wake her up, but all she did was let out a gentle snore. Arthur groaned, realizing the librarian had conveniently disappeared and that he would have to somehow get her back to her dorm.

Surprisingly, he had no qualms about rifling through her things (after all, he was just trying to find her card). He did, however, feel a bit awkward staring at her card though. He learned that her name was Ariadne Phillips and that her childish face suited her small frame. Drawing his eyes away from her ID, Arthur consumed himself with the hardest part of the process- actually moving her.

He decided to pick up her bag first and took the liberty of checking out the books she had in front of her in case she was actually going to study later on. Arthur sighed, pondering how he was going to pick her up. She certainly looked light enough to carry simply by looping one arm under her legs and the other around her ribs, but Arthur decided it was too awkward. But she didn't seem light enough for him to drape her entire body over his shoulder and carry her that way, so Arthur decided to go with awkward over impossible.

-

Arthur had definitely been wrong about Ariadne's weight. True, she was light, but her weight combined with the weight of his books as well as her books was almost unbearable. Then there was the matter of the fact that Arthur had no clue which dorm she lived in. He was almost contemplating walking around door to door when her eyes fluttered open.

"Whadefug…?" Ariadne slurred. Arthur stared at her, speechless.

"Who're you?" she muttered, stirring in his arms.

"I-I'm Arthur. Where do you live?" Arthur asked, realizing that she was far too tired to even realize that he was carrying her and that he had just asked an incredibly awkward question.

"Rubin… Room 215…" she grumbled, completely out of it.

The walk to the dorm seemed to take an eternity. But at least it was the same dorm he lived in so he wouldn't have to walk any further. When he arrived at her room, he kicked at the door in frustration.

"ARIADNE YOU BETTER NOT BE DRUNK," a girl shouted on the other side of the door. The door flew open to reveal Ariadne's roommate who smirked at the scene in front of her.

"Tsk. Did she fall asleep in the library again?" the girl asked clicking her tongue.

"Uhh… Yeah…" he said quickly, handing the girl to her roommate.

"You'd think the girl would be smart enough to learn. I mean, really, Ariadne. You skipped your senior year of high school to be here. Surely you're smart enough to know not to fucking fall asleep in the library," the girl scolded.

"You carried her all the way from the library?" Arthur nodded.

"Aw, how chivalrous of you. Can I get a name?"

"Uhm…"

"So we can tell her who got her back home."

"Arthur Harris…"

"Well thank you for taking care of our Ariadne, Arthur Harris. I'm Mal Edwards. Give Ariadne a call anytime," she remarked with a wink before she promptly slammed the door shut.

As he dragged his feet back to his room, all he could think about was how strange this night had been.

-

When she woke up, Ariadne had no recollection of how she got from the library to her bed.

She rifled through her bag to find the books she was reading yesterday. Had she checked them out yesterday?

"Oh goody you're awake," Mal noticed.

"How'd I get home yesterday…?" Ariadne groaned.

"As I recall, you were having so much sex with this guy named Arthur that you passed out and he had to carry you back to our room," Mal joked.

"Bullshit I was at the library," Ariadne glared, throwing a pillow at Mal.

"Making love in the library? How _shameful_, Ariadne!" Another pillow in Mal's face.

"Ok, ok fine. You fell asleep at the library and some guy carried you home," Mal explained.

"Wait, so nothing actually happened?" their other roommate, Elena, interjected.

"All I remember is falling asleep in the library," Ariadne mused.

"What if he raped you!" Elena gasped. Ariadne glared.

"You're a pretty deep sleeper Ariadne. It could have happened," Mal joked.

"I did not get raped! Nor did I get any last night. I was at the library reading!" Ariadne screeched in frustration.

"Whatever you say… But today, it could be Arthur. Tomorrow his name might be Alex and soon enough they'll just be numbers. You little, slut, you," Mal teased.

"And this is coming from the girl whose life revolves around one night stands," Ariadne said as she rolled her eyes at the thought of her being a slut.

"Hey, I've been with Cobb for over a month now. It's quite promising," Mal said as a matter of fact-ly.

"What happened to that other guy? Eames? He was funny," Elena asked.

"Well if you like him so much, you can have him," Mal scoffed.

"And why do you refer to them by their last names?" Ariadne wondered.

"There're too many Johns and Jakes and Andrews. I can't keep track of them all!" Mal whined.

Ariadne opened her mouth to scold Mal for being so promiscuous when there was a knock on the door. Without even thinking, Ariadne hopped off her bed and made her way to the door. When she opened it, an unfamiliar face greeted her.

"Uhm… Hi," the tall, lanky boy greeted. His face seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quick place her finger on him.

"Hi… Um. I'm sorry. I don't know who you are," Ariadne sighed in embarrassment as her face flushed red.

"Oh, it's ok. I'm Arthur. I got you back to your room last night. I just wanted to make sure you were alright; your head hit your book pretty hard last night," Arthur explained. Ariadne completely zoned out, staring at the way his chocolate brown eyes were soft and at the same time, fierce and the way his brown hair was smoothed back with not a single lock out of place.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I'm totally fine," she insisted after she realized she was ogling him.

"Ok… Well I'll see you around then," he said awkwardly as Ariadne waved and closed the door.

"Dude, you're totally in love with him," Elena giggled.

"Plus, he's totally cute. If you're into tall, awkward skinny boys, which I'm guessing you are," Mal mused.

"Shut up!" Ariadne screeched picking up the pillows from the floor and throwing them at her roommates.

She hated to admit it, but they were right.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Exams are over and I'm practically a senior! So hopefully this means that I'll be able to update and write fics faster. Hopefully. But anyways, here's part 2! I'm thinking about making this a 3 or 4 part story. Maybe longer if more ideas start forming. I dunno. Anyways, I hope you like it!

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><p>"Why are we at a club?" Arthur shouted to Sandra over the booming music.<p>

"Because! Exams are over and we totally passed and it's your birthday so shut the fuck up and have fun!" she shouted back to him.

"But I don't even like clubs…" Arthur mumbled as he made his way to the bar to drink away the feelings of how much he did not want to be there.

Taking his beer from the bartender, Arthur spotted Ariadne with Mal, who happened to be making out with his biology lab partner, Dom. And Arthur thought his life couldn't get any weirder. He decided to just leave them be when Ariadne caught sight of him. Without a choice, he made his way over to them and greeted them awkwardly.

"What are you doing here?" Ariadne shouted.

"Apparently, I'm celebrating my birthday except I'm pretty sure my friend is off sucking her girlfriend's face off," Arthur explained.

"It's your birthday?" Arthur nodded.

"Why are you here? You're obviously not having fun." Arthur shrugged

"Come on, let me show you something," Ariadne insisted with a smile as she told Mal that she was leaving and received a loud, "Mmfrmm."

Ariadne grabbed Arthur by the hand and bolted out of the club.

"Where are we going?" Arthur shouted.

"You'll see!" Ariadne laughed.

They ran through Washington Square Park, past the performers and past the chess players and straight through the fountain (which was still on, mind you) and out through the arch.

"Look up!" Ariadne said, pointing to the top of the arch.

"Look at all the details! Isn't it beautiful? It's modeled after the Arc de Triomphe. I've never seen the real thing, but I'd imagine it to be wonderful," she explained in one breath, wide eyed and smiling.

"How…" Arthur panted, wanting to ask how she could even breathe at the pace she was running, but decided he might have died if he wasted his breath asking her.

"Can you please tell me where we're going?" he asked her instead.

"Just be patient! We're almost there," she barked.

They arrived at an apartment building where Ariadne buzzed a person who had the misfortune of being named Harry Ho.

"MOVE BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY, GET OUT THE WAY BITCH, GET OUT THE WAY!" a voice crackled over the speaker.

"Hi, Ho," Ariadne greeted with a smile.

"Ariadneeee!" he shouted, emphasizing the "e" at the end of her name.

"Are your parents in?" she asked.

"Are they ever in?" he asked sarcastically.

"Good point. We require your roof, please!"

"_We_? I swear, if Mal is there with you, I will kick her out. She already did enough damage last time she was here."

"I swear she's not down here. Just let us up, Harry Ho!" Ariadne laughed and with what seemed to be a sigh over the speaker, the gate opened.

"Forgive me for prying… But who the hell is Harry Ho? And is that seriously his name?" Arthur asked, his face twisting in disbelief as Ariadne laughed.

"It's an unfortunate name, I know. But yes, his name really is Harry Ho- he's Asian. And he's my sister's boyfriend. His family's been looking out for us for, like, ever," she explained as they marched up 5 flights of stairs (Ariadne insisted that Arthur desperately needed to get in shape).

"God, if my sister married him, she'd be Penelope Ho! Imagine that!" she laughed as she flew up the stairs.

"Open up, Ho!" she shouted as she pounded on the door of room 501.

The door flew open, revealing a 5'5" Chinese man (who still seemed to tower over Ariadne) with spiked black and red hair.

"Hey, Ho! Let's go!" Ariadne joked as she flung her arms around him.

"You really need to stop teasing me about my name, little girl. I get enough of that from Penny," Harry groaned, patting the tiny brunette on the back.

"I thought you said you were going to use the roof… Please tell me you aren't going to defile the roof with him. How old are you, Ariadne? Like, 15? Isn't that a little illegal, hmm?" Ariadne and Arthur turned red.

"I-I'm 18, you jerk! And it's Arthur's birthday!"

"Oh? And how old are you now, Arthur?"

"I'm 21…" Arthur mumbled quietly, his face still flushed bright red.

"21! Best year of my life! Well in that case, happy birthday!" Harry congratulated as he shoved a case of beer into Arthur's arms and slipped the key to the roof into Ariadne's hand.

"Now get out. I have paperwork to finish," Harry said as he ushered the couple out of his doorway.

-  
>"Harry's parents own the apartment complex," Ariadne explained as she pushed Arthur into the elevator, deciding to spare him from walking up another 8 flights of stairs.<p>

"But they're never around ever since Harry insisted on running the place for them. They're probably in Paris right now- that's where they always go this time of the year," Ariadne continued. Arthur could see her eyes brimming with desire at the mention of Paris.

"Mal's dad teaches architecture in Paris. What I would _give_ to go to school there," she groaned as Arthur watched in amusement.

He really shouldn't have laughed at her the first day he saw her in the library. Ariadne was a quirky girl who obviously loved architecture more than anything in the world, Arthur realized. She was chatty and one of those people everyone seemed to be friends with- nothing like Arthur. Whereas Ariadne was bubbly and spontaneous, Arthur was rigid and didn't think of anything but studying.

"Are you just going to stand in the elevator forever or what?" Ariadne asked when the door opened but Arthur remained inside, lost in thought.

"Oh. Sorry…" he muttered, embarrassed she caught him staring into space.

"Don't apologize," Ariadne laughed, "hurry up or we'll miss it!"

"Miss _what?_"Arthur asked as Ariadne grabbed his hand and pulled him along. Her hand was small and warm in his and it made him feel like he was going to throw up, but at the same time, he felt as if he was flying. He tightened his grip on her hand unconsciously as she led him up the stairs to the roof.

"You'll see in a second. God, if we miss it, it's all your fault, slowpoke," Ariadne teased as she unlocked the door and threw it open.

Arthur's eyes were met with twilight falling over New York as the lights of various buildings blinked on.

"This is one of the best views of New York, I think. Harry says the reason his dad bought out the complex was because of the view. Plus, it's got a great view of the Empire State Building. Look, look!" she cheered, pointing at the Empire State Building as its lights went up as well.

"It's… Beautiful. Thank you, Ariadne," Arthur said with a smile as Ariadne grabbed a bottle of beer from his arms and cracked it open.

"Happy birthday, Arthur," she said, smiling a toothy grin that Arthur would store in his memories.

"Are you sure you should be drinking?" he teased, opening a beer of his own.

"Well, what's college without a few drinks?"

"Touché," he chuckled, clinking his bottle with hers.

-  
>"What're you majoring in anyways?" Ariadne asked, slurring her words. She'd spent the past hour chatting away about her life because Arthur refused to open his mouth.<p>

"Law," Arthur replied simply, shifting in his seat on the ground next to Ariadne.

"Pfft. Shoulda known," Ariadne laughed.

"What happened to your parents?" he asked her suddenly.

"How'd you know about that?"

"Well, you said Harry's parents have been taking care of you forever, so…"

"Yup, definitely a lawyer." Arthur laughed.

"My parents died when I was really little. I think I was 5 or 6? I dunno," Ariadne explained.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Arthur apologized awkwardly.

"It's fine, really. Penny and I got shipped to our Aunt Cara, but we moved out when I turned 12. Not that she was like, evil or anything- she was old and frail and living off a pension and it sucked seeing her face when we had to pay bills, so we moved out. We moved into this complex and Harry's parents were nice to us. Penny was in college so she wasn't at home a lot and it was hard for us to pay rent so his parents would always pay for part of it when they thought we weren't looking," Ariadne laughed.

"What about you? How are your parents?"

"My parents…" Arthur sighed as his father's stern, stoic face came into view in his mind.

"I grew up in the Upper West Side. My dad wanted me to go to Harvard or Yale, but I didn't even bother to apply. I wanted to go to West Point, join the army, you know? But my dad forced me to go to NYU."

"So then why don't you switch schools?"

"I dunno. I grew up here… It'd feel… Weird, I guess."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't run off to West Point." Arthur raised an eyebrow at her.

"Because then nobody would have taken me back to my dorm when I fell asleep at the library," Ariadne explained quickly, flustering as Arthur laughed.

"Yeah, well it better not happen again- you're heavy as hell." They laughed briefly and then an awkward silence enveloped them.

"Well. I want another beer," Ariadne proclaimed, reaching over Arthur to grab another bottle.

"Wha- no! Ariadne you've had like 4 already!" Arthur protested, trying to hold her back.

"You can't keep me away from my beer!" she laughed, reaching towards the beer against Arthur's grip on her waist. He pulled her back and they tumbled over one another as Ariadne wrestled against Arthur to get to the beer.

"Fuckin' hell!" she squealed, her fingers just barely grazing the tip of the bottle.

"I give up," Ariadne groaned, her body flopping onto the ground.

"Ariadne. You're heavy," Arthur muttered, trying to push her off of him. Ariadne's head buzzed as she got up to her elbows and knees to prevent crushing Arthur. Arthur sat up and as his eyes shifted up, he realized his face was only inches away from Ariadne's.

"Oh. Sorry…" he muttered, moving his face away- as Ariadne's face inched closer. He could feel her soft breathing on his lips and decided, what the hell as his lips parted and met hers. Ariadne moved one leg to the other side of Arthur's body as he sat up completely, pushing her down into his lap. He smiled into the kiss hearing Ariadne let out tiny whimpers of pleasure.

"I love… I… I love… architecture…" she muttered when she broke away. And then it hit Arthur- Ariadne was totally, completely plastered.

"Ariadne, don't. You've had a lot to drink tonight," Arthur told her when she moved back in to kiss him again. And then when Arthur thought she was going to protest, Ariadne turned her head to the left and threw up next to them.

"Well. That's…. Great…" Arthur muttered, rubbing her back.

"I feel…" Ariadne groaned in between hurls.

"Like shit? Yeah, that usually comes hand in hand with throwing up," Arthur mused. Ariadne coughed and with a groan, she fell in Arthur's lap.

"Ariadne?" he asked, shaking her arm before realizing she had passed out.

And for the second time in his life, Arthur had to carry Ariadne home.


	3. Chapter 3

When he arrived at Ariadne's dorm, Arthur pounded on the door but received no reply. He knocked again, louder and more furious this time.

"Go away!" a voice (most likely Mal's, Arthur deduced) shouted from inside.

"Dom, stop it!" the voice squealed and Arthur decided it probably wasn't best if he left Ariadne with god knows what was going on in there.

"Where do I put you…" he sighed, looking down at the petite, passed out girl in his arms. Considering it was a Saturday night and just after the end of exams, Arthur guessed that his roommate, Eames was probably out having another one night stand with yet another girl whose name he would forget in the morning. Of course, Arthur was right.

As he stepped into the room, Arthur noticed while his side of the room was kept clean and organized, Eames' side was littered with trash and random papers and his sheets and pillows were strewn across the floor. Placing Ariadne on his bed, Arthur shook his head as he grabbed Eames' sheets from the floor and placed them back on the bed and attempted to clean the other half of the room (but it proved impossible).

"Where is this…?" Ariadne murmured waking from her slumber.

"We're in my room. Come on, let's get you cleaned up," Arthur sighed, carrying her to the bathroom and ordering her to wash the taste of bile from her mouth. He pulled a chair with him and set it in front of the sink and sat Ariadne in the chair, the back of her head facing the sink.

"What're you doing?" she mumbled when she heard the water running.

"You threw up all over your hair. If we don't wash it out, you're gonna keep throwing up and we can't have that, now can we? Especially not in my bed," he explained as he gathered Ariadne's hair in the sink and began washing it gently.

"All better?" Arthur asked as he toweled her hair dry. Ariadne pulled a lock of her damp hair to her nose and smelled it and looked back at Arthur, smiling.

"Thank you, Arthur." He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Are you going to make me leave now? I don't want to leave. I don't wanna be alone," Ariadne sniffled.

"No. I'm not going to make you leave. Besides, where would you go? Mal's a little preoccupied in your room. Now get in bed," Arthur ordered, shooing her from the bathroom. That night, while Arthur slept on the floor, all he could hear was Ariadne shifting uncomfortably and sniffling in the bed above him.

"Hello? Ariadne? Are we alive?" a voice rang in Ariadne's ears. As she blinked her eyes open, she saw Arthur towering over her with a cup of water.

"Perfect. Just making sure you hadn't died in your sleep," Arthur explained.

"My head really hurts…" Ariadne mumbled.

"I know. You were really drunk last night. Drink this," he ordered, dropping an Alka-Seltzer tablet into the water and shoving it into her hands.

"What happened last night?" she asked, laughing at how clichéd the question seemed.

"You got drunk, threw up, passed out. I'm pretty sure Mal was doing questionable things in your room, so I brought you here," Arthur explained.

"ARTHUR LET ME IN. I'M DRUNK. OR HUNGOVER. MAYBE BOTH," a thick British accented voice shouted from outside.

"Shitshitshitshitshit," Arthur cursed, running around frantically, trying to figure out what to do.

_Who is it?_ Ariadne mouthed.

"My roommate, Eames. Shit. Fuck. Shitshitshit," Arthur whispered, cracking his knuckles.

"Wait… Oh I found my keys never mind," the slurred voice muttered as the keys jangled on the other side of the door.

"Don't move," Arthur hissed as he jumped into the bed and pressed Ariadne's body flush against his, pulling the covers over her head and shut his eyes. Ariadne could have died happy right then and there, curled up against Arthur's chest as he held her close to him.

"G'night. Morning. Ah, what the fuck," Eames muttered as he fell onto his bed.

"Is he asleep?" Ariadne asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Arthur shrugged as he picked up a crumpled piece of paper and threw it at Eames' head.

"He's out," he whispered with a nod as he got out of bed and led Ariadne to the door.

"Sorry about him. He's sort of… brash…" Arthur apologized.

"No, it's fine. Thank you for taking care of me though. I'll see you later?" Ariadne said before she headed back to her own dorm, memorizing his room number- 315.

"So, who's the girl?" Eames asked later in the day (technically it was night, but Eames' sleep schedule was obviously fucked up).

"What girl?" Arthur asked, focusing on what he was doing.

"Don't lie to me, Arthur. The girl. From this morning."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're a horrible liar, you know that, Arthur? I wasn't asleep this morning. I was pretending. Girl. Tiny brunette? Round face, big brown eyes? Yes? She certainly didn't look like she was in college. Fucking underage girls, are we? Shame, shame, Arthur," Eames tutted with a smirk.

"She got drunk. I took her to her dorm, but it was… Occupied. So I brought her here. She slept on the bed, I slept on the floor. _Nobody_ in here was fucking last night," Arthur explained.

"Well that explains why my pillow was on the floor."

"No, your pillow was on the floor because you're a messy pig."

"You know you love me," Eames sighed, "Well I'm going out again. No defiling the room."

"Another one night stand? And you're calling me shameful…" Arthur muttered.

"At least I'm getting some."

"And might I ask where you went last night?" Mal questioned Ariadne the moment she arrived back at the room.

"Apparently, you were copulating with Dom. Didn't want to interrupt that. Can we not with the 20 questions? I'm hungover," Ariadne groaned as she slid into bed.

"Hungover? And may I ask with whom you got hungover with?" Mal asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Can't. It's a secret," Ariadne muttered into her pillow.

"Did Ariadne get her cherry popped last night?" Mal questioned.

"No, I am still a virgin, thank you very much. Now leave me alone," Ariadne demanded, batting Mal away from her. Though, Ariadne wouldn't have minded if she lost it to Arthur.

When Ariadne woke up, she found herself alone in the darkness.

"Mal? Ellie?" she called out. No answer. She got up and went to Mal's bed. Empty. Then Elena's bed. Empty as well.

Ariadne began to panic. The reason why she chose to have two roommates was to decrease her chances of being alone. Mal and Elena had never left her alone in the room before. One of them was always there. But now, it was only Ariadne in the darkness of the night. Suddenly, Ariadne remembered numbers. 315- Arthur's room. Without hesitating, Ariadne grabbed her phone and ran.

Arthur was taking a nap when he heard the pounding at the door. _If Eames forgot his keys again, I swear I'm going to-_

But his thought was cut short when he opened the door to find Ariadne standing there.

"Ariadne? Is everything ok?" he asked, all the while trying to focus on her face. _For fuck's sake, do not look down. Do not look at the cami she is wearing. Don't you even dare look at the cotton shorts she's wearing. Focus, Arthur, _he shouted in his mind, but he disobeyed himself. Arthur's eyes found the white camisole that hugged Ariadne's body (he was sure she wasn't wearing a bra) and her blue cotton shorts, so short they seemed to make her legs look as if they went on for miles.

"S-sorry. Is it ok if I come in?" she whimpered.

"Sure," Arthur finally said, whipping his eyes back up to meet Ariadne's.

"Do you need anything? Tea? Milk? Coffee?" Arthur offered as Ariadne took a seat on the bed.

"No, I'm fine, really," she insisted, her voice wavering.

"Are you sure you're ok? Is there something you want to tell me, Ariadne?" Arthur asked as he knelt in front of Ariadne. She shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

"I lied, Arthur."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I finally finished! It's been hard especially with AP exams and final projects, but it's finally done! It didn't exactly pan out the way I would have liked, but oh well. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>"What," Arthur breathed. It wasn't even a question. It was an, "I am sorely disappointed in you, Ariadne." Or at least, Ariadne thought so.<p>

"I… Before I was with my aunt, my sister and I were living with in separate foster family. I accidentally knocked something over and I lied about doing it so they beat me and then locked me in the closet," Ariadne explained, shaking.

"How long did they keep you in there?" Arthur asked trying to keep his cool but Ariadne could see him fisting at the sheets by her legs.

"Two days, I think. I don't know. It was so dark, I was so alone… I've never told anyone that…"

Ariadne's brown doe eyes stared into Arthur's searching for a hint of a reaction that she knew she wouldn't be able to find.

"What… do you think of me?" she questioned softly. Arthur placed a hand on her knee and Ariadne eyes shot up to meet Arthur's. He could see the fear behind her eyes. Not fear of what had happened to her, but fear that Arthur may reject her.

_I think you're smart and funny and beautiful and I think I love you_, Arthur wanted to say.

"I think… You're a strange little girl," he said instead with a smirk, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Sorry…" Ariadne muttered, looking down at her hands.

"That was a compliment." Ariadne stared at Arthur before a chill ran up her spine and her entire body broke out in a shiver.

"Are you cold? I'll get you a jacket," Arthur said as he turned to retrieve a shirt from his closet.

"Please don't leave me. I don't want to be alone," Ariadne begged as she gripped his arm so tight that Arthur knew that if she ever released him, he would find little pink marks on his skin where her nails dug in.

"It's ok. I'm not leaving you," Arthur cooed, cupping Ariadne's face in his hands.

"I'm scared, Arthur. I don't want to be alone," she cried. Arthur stood up and brought her face to his chest as he whispered in her ear.

"You're not alone. I'm here, you're not alone," he repeated over and over, dropping small kisses over her hair. Unexpectedly, Ariadne moved her body away from Arthur's and gripped at his shirt before pulling his face to hers, lips crashing over each other.

Arthur's eyes widened at the sudden gesture, but soon found one hand snaking into Ariadne's hair as the other one came around and cupped her face, bringing her closer to him. Then abruptly, Ariadne pulled away from him.

"Sorry. I just… wanted to try that. I'm sorry," Ariadne explained lamely as she fiddled with her fingers.

"You don't have to apologize," Arthur said, a little bit too quickly, as he brushed a few stray hairs out of Ariadne's face.

"I think you're gorgeous and brilliant and quirky and fantastic and that's nothing to apologize for," he explained as he pressed his lips gently against her forehead. She stared at him in disbelief. Arthur placed one hand reassuringly on her arm and Ariadne shivered at the electric touch of his fingertips on her skin.

"Can I still get that jacket?" she asked, smiling up at him shyly.

"Well, don't you think it'd be much warmer under the covers?" he asked with a smirk.

"You…" Ariadne began before Arthur's lips covered hers, effectively stopping her train of thought.

Ariadne was woken the next morning by the feeling of fingertips brushing over her arm. She was curled up in Arthur's chest with his arms wrapped around her body.

"G'morning," she chirped with a smile when her eyes found Arthur's. He smiled and leaned his head down to place a kiss on her forehead when there was a loud rap on the door.

"Arthur! Ar… Arthurrrr! ARTHUR I'M DRUNK! OPEN THE DOOR!" The yelling was then followed by a series of pounding and kicking at the door.

Arthur sighed. _Eames._ He mumbled in his mind with discontent.

"You have a key, Eames," Arthur yelled to him from his bed.

"I bloody well don't! Or, even if I do have my key, I'm too drunk to look for it. Come on, mate. Just open the door, yeah? People are looking at me funny," Eames slurred. Judging from the loud banging and sounds of cloth rubbing against the door, Arthur could only suspect that Eames was so drunk that his own legs couldn't support him. That or he had fallen asleep against the door.

"Eames, are you awake?" Arthur called out.

"Yes, I'm awake. Now open this door, you little wanker. It's only like 5 steps from your bed to the door. Oh, unless… You've got a girl in your bed, haven't you? Is it that girl? Tiny brunette girl? Hellooo tiny brunette girl!" Eames chirped from outside.

"God, he's insufferable," Arthur muttered while Ariadne stifled a small laugh.

"Well at least he makes sure you get up every morning. He's a very effective alarm clock," she whispered, smiling.

"Guess what? My friend in there is in bed with a girl!" they heard Eames cheer to someone outside.

"Yeah, well you can have him," Arthur grumbled, wrapping his hands tighter around Ariadne's waist.

"Can I come in yet?" Eames begged, pawing at the door.

"No, you can't. Go back to where you came from, Eames," Arthur pleaded.

"Oh, well would you look at that? My keys were in my hands. I'm coming in!" he cheered and Arthur could hear the keys jangling in the lock.

"Good morning, Arthur, love. Beautiful morning, isn't it? I see you have a girl in your bed. Hello, girl in Arthur's bed! You know, I still don't know your name because Arthur's been hogging you. Would you be so kind as to tell me?" Eames asked, looming over Arthur's bed.

"Hello. I'm Ariadne," she piped, giving him a slight wave from under the covers.

"I thought you were drunk, Eames," Arthur grumbled, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Yes, well that's the only way I can get you to open the door, darling. But now I see I'll have to try something else now that you've got Ariadne," Eames explained with a smirk. Arthur glared at him, as if to say, "I swear to God, Eames if you don't get your ass out of here now, I will have to kill you right here and now."

"Well, I'm only here to grab something. Have fun cuddling… or fucking…" Eames smiled as he waggled his eyebrows at the pair.

"_Goodbye_, Eames," Arthur bit out and with that, Eames slithered out the door, humming.

"That was _really _awkward," Ariadne laughed once Eames was gone.

"Yeah, well now we have the room to ourselves." Ariadne stared at him with wide eyes and quickly reddening cheeks.

"But that's not what I meant. We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. It's all up to you, Ariadne. I'm not going to pressure you," Arthur rambled until Ariadne silenced him with a kiss.

"Don't leave me, Arthur," she demanded. It wasn't a request; it was a, "if you even think about leaving me so help me God, I might have to kill you."

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere, my love," he whispered, touching his forehead to hers.

"Ever?"

"_Ever_."


End file.
